“Our ‘original’ company, Weschle Holzbau, was established in 1926,” master carpenter Moritz Weschle explains. The managing director and owner of Schwarzwald Holzbausysteme (SBS) of Friesenheim/DE recalls: “Schwarzwald Holzbausysteme got off to a good start. Our order books were full soon, and we were in the black already in the first year. We have acquired a lot of regular customers in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate.” SBS produces CLT in the three qualities “residential visible”, “industrial visible” and “non-visible”, and offers excellent soundproofing and heat insulation as well as optimal fire safety. The company uses raw material from the region, convinces with high flexibility, and also sees itself as a niche supplier. SBS offers elements with lengths of up to 16.2 m and widths of up to 3.9 m. This way, even large room heights can be implemented successfully. “We are the right partner for anyone who doesn’t want something off the shelf. We’re good at handling special requests,” Weschle says about SBS’s competencies. For example, the company often manufactures prefabricated elevator shafts or CLT stairs.
CLT for modern timber constructions
Weschle is proud of having been involved in the largest timber construction project in the history of Freiburg’s urban development. In Schildacker in Freiburg/DE, a modern, green and livable neighborhood with 306 rental apartments was built. During one of the construction phases, six wooden buildings were erected. The load-bearing and bracing interior walls and the walls of the stairwells were built using SBS Plus elements. The ceilings are an excellent example of the advantages of SBS cross-laminated timber: Thanks to the enormous spans, it was possible to create large, column-free interior spaces.
Weschle also mentions another reference project. In Ehrenkirchen-Kirchhofen/DE, seven high-quality multi-family houses, each with three floors and a shared underground car park with several atriums, were built in just a few months. The CLT elements, which were used for this project, create a healthy and pleasant indoor climate. Inside, many of the wall and ceiling elements are not plastered. Instead, the elements in residential visible quality offer a cozy and homely atmosphere.
Creating added value
Weschle also carries out in-house construction projects. In 2024, the production site will be expanded to include a logistics and pre-assembly center. For this purpose, Weschle will build a new 40 by 70-m-big hall with 40-m-long roof trusses made of CLT from its in-house production.
The hall will house a new Hundegger joinery machine which can join elements on both sides in just one step. A special feature of this machine is its ability to repair knots semi-automatically. A grinding machine will also be installed in the new building.
Weschle sees the future of Schwarzwald Holzbausysteme in finished walls. “Our roots are in carpentry and that’s where our expertise lies in,” Weschle says about his plans to produce more than just CLT in the future. “We plan CLT elements with, for example, an integrated level for installations and insulation, with paneling and the possibility to install windows.”
The SBS360 partner network will be available from 2024. “We are pursuing the idea of a 360° service,” Weschle explains, who found a competent field sales representative in Christoph Gutmann. The goal is to have small and medium-sized carpentry businesses in particular as SBS360 partners. Schwarzwald Holzbausysteme will take over the entire planning and engineering process, while the respective SBS360 partner can focus on assembly, allowing them to offer and carry out turnkey projects.
